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|  Review on March 16, 2020: |
sysw
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
Altogether the process took about 2 hours but 2 hours 15 minutes counting the wait outside the embassy in the morning. In addition to only permitting one cell phone, smart watched, fit bits, etc aren't allowed so if it's any sort of electronic device, leave them behind. All the staff- from guards to officers- were very kind. All instructions given were clear and the guard watching over the waiting room went out of his way to calm nerves by instructing everyone on what order all the different steps would be taken, approximately how long things would take, and not to worry if someone found themselves waiting for over an hour for their interview as certain cases would take more time. In the waiting room, they give you a sheet of paper that details exactly what order they want your documents to be in and specify no paper clips or folders so keep your documents organized but don't bother to clip them or place them into folders.
I attended as the petitioner and heard from the waiting room while my fiance was interviewed and the interviewing lady was kind to my fiance and asked all the basic questions everyone had mentioned before - how did you guys meet, how long had we been together, what did we plan to do in the States, etc. We had prepared my father as a joint sponsor just in case but after looking at my tax returns, the reviewer said we didn't need it as I more than met the threshold so the tax documents definitely was one of the more important documents and they definitely prioritized the information on there as basis over documents like from my company. My fiance said the rest of the supporting evidence we prepared was mostly skimmed over to check everything was in good order and they didn't scrutinize over every word and answer. I was mostly worried about my proof of domicile as I lived and worked in Korea but the documents I prepared (US bank information and transfers, voting records, proof of intent to leave, etc) satisfied them and there weren't additional questions about it.
One thing I will note is that the official K1 instruction file provided via email by the embassy we noticed changed about a week prior to our interview to add some new descriptions and clarification about the supporting documents for the i-134 (such as documents for domicile proof) and family certificate. We had prepared all of these things accordingly even prior to the small revisions but we were surprised they would update the file without any notification. For future interviewers, instead of saving the instruction pdf file, I would recommend keeping/saving the online file link and going into it directly to refer to when preparing for the interview, just in case they make revisions.
They also asked all interviewees if they had recently traveled anywhere and particularly to Europe, China, Iran, etc due to the ongoing Coronavirus outbreaks and advised against traveling to those countries before heading into the US because of the recent travel bans/restrictions. But overall, it was a very professional experience and thankfully nothing unexpected. Prepare everything as instructed by the embassy and you should be good to go!
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #28191